What is a Book of Shadows: Every Wiccan can make their own Book of Shadows just the way they like. A Book of Shadows is sacred tool containing texts relevant to the craft. There are several ways to make a Book of Shadows, below we will list and explain 5 types. The Book of Shadows is a personal journal of spells, potions, deity, traditions and much, more. It doesn't even have to be called a Book of Shadows or BOS for short. It can be called whatever you feel comfortable with. What you name it is up to you and how it relates to you. A couple of ideas for a name for instance could be The Book of Shadows and Light; The Book of Your Name's Tradition, and so on. You get the idea.

Another thing to consider before starting your BOS is what you want to write in your book and that is completely your choice. Your book should contain the important information of your practice of the craft. You may want to consider another book for your journaling to include dreams, feelings, etc.

Then there is also what to consider relevant to include in your book, in other words, a clear table of contents to keep you on track of what is important enough to add to your book. A sample table of contents follow:

- the first page can be the title page; Your Magickal Name's Book title; date, month and year of the book's creation- a book dedication page- a book blessing page- a book protection page- the Wiccan Rede- the altar, layout and tools- circle casting and releasing- deities of your tradition- rituals and spells- esbats, moon phases- sabbats- divination such as tarot, scrying, pendulums, etc- candle magick- potions, herbs and herbal remedies- chakras- crystals and grids- and just about anything that you think of relating to your craft

Well that should give you an idea of what to include in your Book of Shadows, now let's put one together.

Book of Shadows - Style #1:What you'll need:- a 3 ring binder at least 3" deep (check to see if it has outer clear inserts front and back). The outer cover is harder to decorate, however, you can print nice clip art and then insert it into the clear inserts on the front and back cover. I chose to cover mine with faux leather and cut outa window so that a embroidered tree goddess would peak through. This was a more difficult but satisfying venture.- index page dividers. This will allow you to organize your pages into categories such as: Deities, Traditions, Spells, etc.- blank sheets of paper. Print your pages. You may want to tea dye or coffee stain then wrinkle the sheets to make them look aged before inserting them into the sheet protectors. You can also embellish the pages or have clipart on the the pages before you print them out.- clear sheet protectors. After you print your sheets, you can protect them form candle wax by putting them in the clear sheet protectors. The photo below on the right shows the pages printed out and then in sheet protectors- and of course you will need access to a computer. Print your pages and insert them into your new BOS. While this way will keep your information organized, it may not connect to you. It goes without saying, the old way of writing (journaling as it is sometimes called) down your information, will help you to remember what you are writing about.

Book of Shadows - Style #2:What you'll need:- access to a computer. You can keep your Book of Shadows on your computer. This way helps to save our environment because you don't have to print anything so you don't use paper and save trees. However, and this has happened to me, if you don't back up your files then you may lose all your valuable information to that computer never-land.

While keeping your Book of Shadows on your computer has many advantages such as; it can have decorated pages with lots of clip art, nice type styles and you can edit your information over and over again. However, unless you can invest in a small laptop or tablet, the computer may be a little awkward for performing a ritual.

Book of Shadows - Style #3:

You will need a lot of Imagination and then you can create your own magickal looking Book of Shadows from start to finish by making your own cover and pages to insert information in pockets and small booklets in this scrapbook style book.

What you'll need:- Imagination. You can create your own magickal looking Book of Shadows from start to finish by making your own cover and pages to insert information in pockets and small booklets in this scrapbook style book.- decorative Items, newspaper article about witches, magazine clippings about nature, etc.- assorted paper, some with designs, some you tea or coffee dye and then wrinkle when dry.- colored pencils, crayons,markers, glitter to decorate and write on your sheets- and just about anything you can think of that would go with the Wiccan theme

1. Select a set of pages and organize your artwork for your scrapbook.2. Write the theme of a Wiccan title on some of the pages and decorate with cutouts, drawings, or coloring you do.3. What size of scrapbook will you prefer. For example, a larger 9" x 11" or a smaller 7" x 9" scrapbook.4. Plan and measure carefully a template for your scrapbook and keep your page layout uniform and consistent throughout. Elements such as titles, border designs, and margins should be consistent, while others such as photos, text area shapes and sizes are variables.5. You can also embellish your pages with magazine cutout pieces, ribbons, and stamps. You may also write down details about poems, stories, memorable quotes and phrases.5. You can also add some color correspondences for the ritual, event, esbat or sabbat to your scrapbook.6. For the book cover you can cut a box of cereal to a size mentioned above or whatever size you want. You can then cover that book cover with material, paint or cloth.7. Your pages can then be glued or sewn into your new scrapbook cover. However, once the pages are done, it is almost impossible to add pages unless you make pocket inserts on some of the pages where you can add a smaller book containing blank pages to add more information or art to. The pockets will allow you to add more books and information to your existing scrapbook.

Photos and/or a video in the works for this Book of Shadows scrapbook.